The Rebels storm the field Saturday to conquer Vanderbilt 27-16. Photo by: Ariel Cobbert
Head coach Hugh Freeze said the Vanderbilt game would be a tough matchup all last week. He expected a fight from the Commodores, making the contest difficult from start to finish.
Despite this opinion, most fans and analysts still predicted the game to be a blowout in favor of the Rebels. Those remarks were generally regarded as friendly words from the head coach.
On Saturday, it was apparent just how serious Freeze was about this being a difficult matchup. Ole Miss fought off a valiant effort from the Commodores and scored 14 second half points to outlast Vanderbilt 27-16.
“A lot of credit goes to Vanderbilt, and they’re better than people give them credit for,” Freeze said.
With the result of the tight contest, Freeze felt Vanderbilt was better prepared for the game.
“Compliments to Coach (Derrick) Mason and his squad. Mason is doing a really nice job there. He had his kids ready to play tonight and the effort they gave is complementary,” Freeze said. “We didn’t have ours prepared as well, particular in some critical areas, like third down and in the red-zone. We scored some points in there, but we have to be more efficient.”
Ole Miss had some struggles in the game that were not common for a team that won their first three games of the season.
“Penalties were something we hadn’t done all year. We were, I guess, top two or three in the nation in penalties. We had 11 tonight for 120 yards. We turned the ball over tonight, and that’s not stuff that is elite football,” Freeze said. “We just didn’t play real well.”
Freeze was quick to note that his coaching was not up to par with his standards.
“I have to start with myself and say that I didn’t prepare well enough, and we didn’t have a good third down play,” Freeze said. “We have to correct that.”
It was also a rough game for junior quarterback Chad Kelly, who had an excellent first three games with the Rebels but struggled making some reads against Vanderbilt. Kelly finished 24-42 passing for 321 yards and one touchdown and two interceptions.
“They did some stuff that we weren’t prepared for, and that’s on me personally,” Kelly said. “I take full responsibility for today’s game, but a win is a win. And we just have to get better and get ready for Florida.”
Although the Rebels offense struggled, the defense was able to have a pretty successful game, holding the Commodores to 16 points for the day.
“I thought there were some good things. I think they had one decent run and probably averaged maybe two-and-a-half, three yards a carry other than that one run,” defensive coordinator Dave Wommack said. “We had a crucial third down stop after a turnover, which was a big difference in the game I thought, so I thought there was improvement.”
Maybe the biggest play the Rebels made on Saturday was on special teams when sophomore wide receiver Cale Luke blocked a punt, leading to a Robert Nkemdiche touchdown for the Rebels.
“We’d been going after it all night,” Luke said. “We knew that one of us was going to be able to come clean and have a chance to block it every time, so finally it ended up being me. I just gave 100 percent and ended up getting there.”
Overall, Freeze said it was still important for the team to celebrate a hard fought win, even if he felt the team didn’t play to its full potential.
“You have to celebrate the wins in life. Life moves too fast, and you better enjoy the ones that you get and celebrate it and learn from the things that we did not do well,” Freeze said. “If we really want to be elite, we have to prepare like we’re an elite football team.”
